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GOSPEL  WORKERS; 


OR, 


A  PLAN  FOR  DOING  GOOD, 


FOR  EVERYBODY. 


BY  REV.  J.  CROSS. 


si^ 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
AMERICAN   TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STEEET,  NEW  YORK. 


CONTENTS. 

I.  God's  Vineyard 5 

[II.  God  calls  us  to  Labor 10 

III.  Duty  of  All  to  Work - 14 

IV.  All  can  Work - 19 

V.  Duties  of  Church  Officers -  25 

VI.  Duties  of  Church  Members 31 

VII.  Personal  Labor - - 37 

VIIL  Associated  Effort ---  42 

IX.  Associated  Effort.     Continued 48 

X.  Duties  of  Mothers  -  - 57 

XI.  Duties  of  Fathers  - - — 64 

XII.  The  Condition  of  the  Church  calls  for  Special  Effort  71 
XIIL  Closing  Appeal - 77 


GOSPEL  WORKERS. 


GOD'S  VINEYARD. 

When  God  had  finished  the  work  of  crea- 
tion, he  pronounced  all  things  very  good ;  ev- 
ery thing  was  exactly  adapted  to  the  end  for 
which  it  was  made.  Man,  who  was  the  crown- 
ing part  of  this  work,  was  put  in  possession 
of  this  world  as  his  home.  All  the  beasts  of 
the  earth  were  subject  to  him.  He  was  the 
monarch  of  all  his  heart  could  desire.  The 
earth  brought  forth  all  he  needed  without  la- 
bor or  toil ;  and  while  he  obeyed  God,  he  was 
a  stranger  to  sorrow.  But  by  man's  disobe- 
dience sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death 
by  sin ;  the  very  earth  was  cursed  in  conse- 
quence, and  he  was  doomed  to  earn  by  the 


6  GOSPEL  WOKKEES. 

sweat  of  his  brow  wliat  God  had  richly  pro- 
vided for  him,  had  he  remained  in  a  state  of 
innocence. 

Not  only  were  his  temporal  necessities  to 
be  siipphed  by  toil,  but  the  moral  evil  he  had 
introduced  must  be  removed  by  labor  like- 
wise. God  could,  by  an  act  of  his  almighty 
power,  have  repaired  all  the  injury  man  had 
done  in  a  moment  of  time,  eHher  by  destroy- 
ing the  creatures  who  brought  disorder  into 
his  dominions,  and  creating  others,  or  by  pro- 
viding an  immediate  atonement  for  both  soul 
and  body,  and  reinstating  man  in  his  prime- 
val innocence.  But  God's  plan  is,  to  remove 
the  evil  man  brought  into  the  world  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  same  creature  that 
introduced  the  evil,  as  a  penalty  for  his  diso- 
bedience ;  and  in  order  to  prepare  the  way, 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ  became  man,  not  only 
to  make  an  atonement  for  man's  sins,  but  to 
teach,  both  by  example  and  precept,  how  this 
great  work  was  to  be  done.  Christ,  by  taking 
to  himself  a  true  body  and  a  reasonable  soul, 
could  enter  into  sympathy  with  man,  and  work 
with  man.  Hence  Christians  are  called  "work- 


GOD'S    VINEYAKD.  7 

ers  together  with  Christ"  in  building  up  his 
kingdom  in  this  world. 

The  Son  of  God,  while  on  earth  in  our  na- 
ture, taught  the  most  important  truths  by  par- 
ables, always  using  something  with  which  his 
hearers  were  well  acquainted.  Palestine  was 
a  land  of  vineyards,  and  thousands  earned 
their  daily  bread  by  laboring  in  them.  Moun- 
tain-sides were  generally  chosen  as  tlie  place 
to  locate  the  vineyard,  and  as  most  of  the 
mountains  were  stony,  it-  required  much  labor 
to  prepare  the  ground  and  plant  the  vines 
and  prune  them.  Some  one  was  appointed  to 
oversee  the  work,  and  pay  the  laborers  for 
their  services.  The  pay  was  in  proportion 
to  the  work  done.  As  a  matter  of  justice, 
those  who  loitered  away  their  time  in  idle- 
ness received  little  or  nothing  when  night 
came.  Christ  introduced  this  parable  of  the 
vineyard,  and  the  labor  in  cultivating  it,  to 
show  how  moral  evil  was  to  be  removed  from 
this  sin-cursed  world. 

This  world,  morally  considered,  is  a  dreary 
wilderness,  and  in  it  God  has  planted  his 
church,  for  the  removal  of  the  curse  intro- 


8  GOSPEL    WOEKEES. 

duced  by  sin.  Tlie  Jews  were  God's  vine- 
yard in  it ;  for  many  centuries  lie  bestowed 
much  labor  on  them,  but  they  proved  un- 
faithful in  his  service.  He  sent  them  proph- 
ets and  priests.  Some  they  stoned,  others 
^hey  killed  or  sent  away  shamefully  handled. 
At  last  he  sent  unto  them  his  Son,  saying, 
"Surely  they  will  reverence  my  Son;"  but 
they  killed  him,  and  cast  him  out  of  the 
vineyard.  Yet  to  their  surprise  he  rose  from 
the  dead,  and  turned  them  out,  and  employed 
another  class  of  laborers  in  their  stead.  The 
first  of  these  laborers  were  employed  from 
the  humblest  walks  of  life,  and  were  called 
apostles.  They  immediately  went  to  work, 
when  fully  commissioned,  with  great  earnest- 
ness, and  in  one  day  added  three  thousand 
additional  laborers  to  their  number.  For 
some  years  the  vineyard  was  enlarged  with 
great  rapidity ;  all  classes  and  conditions, 
high  and  low,  rich  and  poor*  entered  in 
to  labor.  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary 
places  were  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 
Had  the  same  zeal  and  industry  been  con- 
tinued up  to  this  present  time  that  was  for 


GOD'S   VINEYARD.  9 

half  a  century,  tlie  work  miglit  have  been 
done. 

True,  some  of  those  vineyards  that  were 
planted  with  such  rapidity  did  not  continue 
to  bring  forth  good  fruit  long,  especially  those 
seven  planted  in  Asia,  which  may  be  a  warn- 
ing to  all  unfaithful  laborers.  There  was  one 
Ananias  and  Sapphira  his  wife,  who  engaged 
to  work  about  that  time,  and  to  show  their 
zeal  agreed  to  sell  all  they  had  and  trust  in 
the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  for  the  supply  of 
their  wants.  But  they  hid  away  a  part  for 
their  own  private  use,  and  their  deception 
proved  their  ruin ;  they  were  slain  and  cast 
out  of  the  vinej^ard,  as  a  warning  to  all  insin- 
cere laborers.  There  is  great  reason  to  fear 
that  if  every  Ananias  and  Sapphira  were  vis- 
ited in  the  same  way  now,  the  laborers  would 
be  greatly  reduced  in  numbers. 


10  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

11. 

GOD  CALLS  US  TO  LABOR. 

The  condition  on  wliicli  laborers  are  em- 
ployed to  work  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  is,  to 
make  a  total  surrender  of  themselves,  body 
and  sonl,  to  his  service,  and  keep  back  noth- 
ing. "When  God  regenerates  a  sin-polluted 
soul,  he  takes  that  soul  out  of  the  forest  of 
the  world,  and  transplants  it  into  the  vineyard 
or  church  of  Christ.  It  is  cut  off  from  the 
wild  \dne,  and  grafted  into  Christ,  who  is  the 
true  vine.  It  becomes  one  with  Christ,  and 
is  so  identified  with  him  that  what  interests 
Christ  interests  that  soul.  In  a  copartner- 
ship for  carrying  on  any  business,  where  all 
the  partners  are  industrious  and  persevering, 
they  seldom  fail  of  success.  But  if  one  half 
the  firm  are  indolent  and  lazy,  they  seldom 
succeed  well.  It  is  just  so  in  working  Christ's 
vineyard ;  if  all  are  at  work,  and  always  at  it, 
success  will  be"  certain. 

When  a  soldier  enlists  in  the  service  of  his 


GOD   CALLS   TO   LABOR.  11 

country,  and  takes  tlie  bounty  or  reward  of- 
fered, lie  is  solemnly  bound,  as  an  honest  man, 
to  devote  all  his  energies  to  his  country's 
cause ;  to  neglect  this  will  bring  down  on  his 
head  both  punishment  and  disgrace ;  and  if 
he  runs  in  the  hour  of  danger,  or  deserts  the 
battle-field,  he  loses  all  just  claim  to  compen- 
sation for  his  time.  In  the  act  of  justifica- 
tion, the  sinner  becomes  a  servant  of  Christ; 
he  receives  bountifully  of  God's  gTace;  his 
name  is  enrolled  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life; 
he  has  renounced  the  devil  as  his  master,  and 
refuses  to  do  his  work  any  longer.  He  has 
accepted  of  pardon  through  Christ,  and  he  is 
now  under  the  most  solemn  obhgations  to 
serve  Christ  and  to  work  for  him.  To  neg- 
lect this  is  dishonest ;  it  is  robbing  God  of 
his  just  rights,  and  implies  either  cowardice 
oi;  treason. 

In  the  conversion  of  a  soul,  God  designs 
not  only  the  salvation  of  that  individual,  but 
the  improvement  of  his  church  or  \dneyard. 
If  no  change  were  manifested  in  the  conduct 
of  the  man,  God  would  have  no  glory  from 
his  work,  and  his  cause  would  suffer  reproach 


12  GOSPEL   WOEKERS. 

by  it.  It  is  tlirougli  tlie  instrumentality  of 
converted  men  and  women  that  God  has 
enlarged  his  church  and  brought  millions  to 
heaven,  and  it  is  through  them  that  all  the 
world  is  finally  to  be  brought  to  Christ.  They 
are  the  agents,  his  word  the  instrument  they 
are  to  work  with,  and  his  Spirit  the  moving 
power.  Their  hands  must  hold  the  plough 
and  sow  the  seed,  and  he  has  promised  they 
shall  gather  sheaves  with  joy. 

The  same  principles  govern  both  the  nat- 
ural and  moral  world ;  the  man  who  ploughs 
and  sows  in  the  natural  world  seldom  begs  in 
harvest.  Owing  to  the  unfriendly  nature  of 
the  soil,  his  ingatherings  may  be  small,  but 
he  seldom  fails  entirely.  So  with  Christ's 
workers ;  their  field  may  be  stony  ground,  or 
birds  may  devour  much  of  the  seed,  but  still 
faithful  labor  will  secure  a  harvest.  The  la- 
borer in  the  vineyard  of  Christ  is  not  respon- 
sible for  the  results,  only  for  the  labor.  The 
order  is.  Go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard ;  God 
will  order  the  results.  In  working  for  Christ, 
we  are  not  to  make  our  rewards  the  principal 
object,  as  we  do  in  ordinary  labor;  but  we 


GOD    CALLS   TO   LABOB.  13 

are  to  work  for  the  glory  of  our  Master,  that 
whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatever  we  do, 
we  may  do  all  for  the  glory  of  God.  Still, 
no  one  pays  as  punctually  as  God  does.  He 
that  waters  shall  be  watered.  The  moment 
we  begin  to  work  for  God,  we  begin  to  real- 
ize the  reward.  No  wonder  there  are  so  many 
poor  Christians  in  the  church — I  mean  spir- 
itually poor — while  there  is  so  httle  done  to 
increase  spiritual  wealth. 


14  GOSPEL   WOBKEKS. 

III. 

DUTY  OF  ALL  TO  WORK. 

If  industry  is  tlie  avenue  to  wealtli  in  tem- 
poral things,  it  is  doubly  so  in  spiritual  things. 
If  indolence  leads  to  bankruptcy  in  temporal 
things,  it  will  more  certainly  in  spiritual 
things-.  I  knew  a  man  once  so  far  gone  in 
spiritual  bankruptcy  that  he  was  about  to 
leave  the  church;  he  came  in  contact  with 
a  genuine  gospel  worker,  who  advised  him 
to  go  to  work  for  Christ  without  delay,  and 
he  would  soon  get  reUef.  He  resolved  that 
evening  to  go  to  work  for  the  good  of  the  first 
sinner  he  met.  Early  the  next  morning  the 
wickedest  old  sinner  in  the  whole  community 
called  on  business.  The  sight  of  the  man,  in 
view  of  the  promise  he  had  made,  frightened 
him ;  but  as  soon  as  the  business  was  trans- 
acted for  which  the  man  came,  he  began  to 
preach  Christ  to  him  with  a  stammering 
tongue.  To  his  utter  surprise,  in  a  few  mo- 
ments the  man  began  to  weep,  and  said,  "No 


DUTY    OF    ALL    TO    WORK.  15 

man  ever  spoke  to  me  about  my  soul  before;" 
and  it  resulted  in  tliat  man's  salvation.  In  a 
moment  the  man  that  had  been  without  hope 
for  months  had  his  soul  overflowing  with  spir- 
itual joy.  The  remedy  was  instantaneous, 
and  so  it  will  be  in  almost  every  instance. 
We  give  this  as  an  infallible  cure  for  spiritual 
despondency.  A  man  that  will  lie  down  and 
refuse  to  exercise  his  hmbs  will  soon  become 
unable  to  use  them.  So  the  Christian  who 
refuses  to  exercise  the  powers  of  his  soul  for 
Christ  will  soon  become  a  spiritual  paralytic, 
while  he  that  works  for  Christ  will  increase 
his  strength  from  day  to  day. 

J?ractical  Christianity  is  working  for  God — 
not  for  a  day  or  a  year,  but  for  Hfe  ;  neglect- 
ing to  do  it  is  practical  atheism  or  denying 
God's  authority.  How  is  the  world  to  know 
you  belong  to  Christ,  if  you  do  nothing  for 
him?  Christ  said,  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them;"  and  he  that  is  not  for  Christ  is 
against  him ;  there  is  no  neutral  ground  be- 
tween those  who  work  for  Christ  and  those 
who  work  for  Belial. 

These  words  of  Christ  do  not  refer  directly 


16  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

to  tlie  evidences  of  our  good  estate,  as  when 
we  are  told  to  give  diligence  to  make  our  call- 
ing and  election  sure,  or  to  work  out  our  sal- 
vation vv^itli  fear  and  trembling.  Tliey  refer 
manifestly  to  working  for  the  salvation  of 
others.  This  becomes  obvious  when  we  look 
at  some  of  the  figurative  descriptions  of  the 
church  of  Christ.  The  church  is  compared 
to  an  army — every  Christian  to  a  soldier. 
All  have  the  same  enemies,  and  are  exposed 
to  the  same  dangers.  An  army  is  raised  and 
drilled  either  to  invade  an  enemy's  country  or 
defend  our  own.  A  soldier's  life  is  a  life  of 
toil  and  danger,  and  no  one  who  goes  into  an 
army  expects  to  esQape  toil  and  hardship,  es- 
pecially when  a  cunning  foe  is  menacing  its 
ranks.  The  church  of  Christ  is  in  an  enemy's 
country,  surrounded  with  vigilant  foes,  whose 
leader  neither  sleeps  nor  slumbers.  His  long 
experience  in  guerrilla  warfare  and  sudden 
raids  on  the  church  calls  for  the  utmost  vigi- 
lance on  the  part  of  Christ's  soldiers.  They 
need  to  have  on  their  whole  armor,  and  stand 
in  the  line  of  battle.  Could  any  thing  but 
defeat  be  expected,  if  half  an  army  were  sleep- 


DUTY    OF    ALL    TO    WORK.  H 

ing  at  tlieir  posts  unarmed?  and  would  any 
brave  commander  respect  such  soldiers,  or 
give  them  any  reward  for  such  service  ?  And 
can  we  expect  the  church  of  Christ,  with  a 
sleeping  army  of  Christians,  to  make  any  ad- 
vances in  this  world,  which  is  under  the  rule 
of  the  prince  of  darkness?  Those  that  lag- 
behind  in  the  day  of  battle  endanger  those 
that  go  forward ;  and  had  better  be  out  of 
the  army  than  in  it.  So  all  those  who  refuse 
to  work  in  the  church  are  only  so  much  use- 
less material,  to  be  dragged  along  by  those 
who  do  the  work.  As  an  army  needs  hospi- 
tals for  the  sick  and  wounded,  so  does  the 
church  need  her  hospitals  for  weak,  sickly 
Christians.  Indeed  some  churches  might 
well  be  turned  into  hospitals,  and  nurses 
brought  in  from  other  churches  to  take  care 
of  them.  Such  Christians  are  not  gospel 
workers. 

The  soldiers  who  work  in  this  army,  dig- 
ging trenches  and  building  fortifications,  are 
not  Avorking  for  a  despot,  who  uses  them  to 
gratify  his  own  ambition,  but  for  their  owii 
defence,  and  for  the  protection  of  their  fami- 

Qo»p.  Workers.  2 


18  GOSPEL    WORKEES. 

lies  and  friends,  all  exposed  to  the  raids  of  a 
malignant  enemy,  who  is  going  about  like  a 
roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour. 
Now,  if  it  is  true  that  he  that  provideth  not 
for  himself  and  his  household — in  temporal 
things — hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse 
than  an  infidel,  is  it  not  equally  true  in  rela- 
tion to  eternal  things?  The  man  who  lets 
his  family  starve  through  idleness  is  despised 
in  the  community.  And  can  a  man  that  neg- 
lects to  labor  for  their  souls'  salvation  be 
respected  either  by  God  or  man  ? 


ALL    CAN    WORK.  19 


lY. 

ALL  CAN  WORK. 

This  command  is  given  to  all,  from  the  least 
to  the  greatest :  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith, 
war  a  good  warfare,  put  on  the  whole  armor 
of  God,  resist  the  devil.  All  this  means  the 
most  earnest,  energetic  working ;  it  does  not 
mean  that  they  are  all  the  time  to  he  in  win- 
ter quarters,  or  build  barracks  and  fortifica- 
tions, and  await  an  attack  from  the  enemy. 
But  the  church  is  to  be  aggressive,  make  con- 
quests for  Christ,  expel  the  usurper  and  all 
his  hosts.*  This  world  was  not  made  for  the 
prince  of  darkness ;  it  was  made  for  holy  be- 
ings, created  in  the  image  of  God;  but  the 
vile  fiend,  when  he  failed  to  make  a  conquest 
of  heaven,  and  was  thrust  out  with  his  helhsh 
crew,  set  out  to  make  conquests  elsewhere, 
found  his  way  to  this  earth,  defrauded  our 
first  parents  of  their  birthright,  and  set  up  his 
kingdom  here.  So  anxious  was  he  for  divine 
adoration,  that  he  offered  to  give  it  to  the 


20  GOSPEL    WOEKERS. 

Son  of  God,  wlien  He  became  man,  if  He 
wonlcL  worship  liim.  Hence  lie  has  no  rights 
here ;  he  is  a  vile  usurper,  and  must  be  dis- 
possessed. This  revolted  province  of  Jeho- 
vah's dominions  has  to  be  wrested  from  him, 
and  who  has  so  good  a  right  to  do  it  as  man? 
Jehovah  could  have  expelled  liim  in  a  moment 
by  an  act  of  his  almighty  power,  but  he  chose 
to  do  it  by  making  man  the  instrument,  pro- 
viding a  way  by  which  man  could  be  avenged 
on  his  enemy.  The  seed  of  the  woman  was 
to  bruise  his  head ;  and  when  we  contemplate 
the  misery  and  woe  he  has  introduced  into  this 
world,  the  sorrow,  toil,  and  pain  he  has  given 
to  every  son  and  daughter  of  Adam,  is  it  not 
marvellous  that  every  one  does  not  gxert  him- 
self to  dispossess  him  ?  If  it  was  in  the  pow- 
er of  any  man,  or  company  of  men,  to  do  as 
much  injury  to  a  toAvn  or  city  in  a  day  as 
Satan  does,  the  civil  authorities  would  not 
be  able  to  prevent  their  being  mobbed.  The 
work  of  the  church  is  to  expel  this  vile  mon- 
ster out  of  this  beautiful  world,  and  restore 
it  to  its  primeval  state.  Every  man  in  this 
world  is  our  brother ;  and  had  it  not  been  for 


ALL    CAN   WORK.  23 

th\s  malignant  spirit,  none  of  us  would  ever 
have  been  asliamecl  of  our  kin.  "Wlio  then 
but  a  traitor  to  God  and  the  whole  family  of 
man  can  remain  idle,  while  this  foul  spirit  is 
dragging  our  friends  down  to  his  dark  and 
doleful  abode  ? 

In  the  previous  part  of  this  series,  we  have 
tried  to  show  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  work 
for  Christ.  We  now  intend  to  show  lioio  all 
can  luork.     All  shall  be  left  without  excuse. 

"We  take  for  an  illustration  the  building  of 
the  temjDle  in  Jerusalem.  The  plan  of  the 
building  was  given  by  God  himself,  and  com- 
mitted to  master-builders  of  his  own  choosing. 
Their  business  vras  to  see  how  every  stone 
was  laid,  and  that  all  the  vast  multitude  em- 
ploj'ed  did  their  work  faithfully.  No  doubt 
there  were  various  gxades  of  overseers  attend- 
ing on  each  department  of  the  work,  all  sub- 
ject to  the  master-builders  to  whom  the  plan 
of  the  building  was  especially  committed. 
Some  were  clearing  off  and  levelling  the  foun- 
dation; others  were  on  the  mountain-sides, 
quarrying  the  huge  rocks ;  others  were  squar- 
ing them  to  the  size  directed;  others  were 


22  GOSPEL    WOEKEES. 

engaged  in  hauling  them  to  the  building ;  oth- 
ers raising  them  to  their  appointed  place; 
others  making  mortar  and  carrying  it  to  the 
builders.  There  were  a  vast  multitude  on 
the  mountains  of  Lebanon,  cutting  and  squar- 
ing cedar-trees,  and  floating  them  towards 
Jerusalem;  others  were  working  in  gold  and 
fine  brass ;  while  many  were  engaged  in  mak- 
ing the  curtains  and  fringes.  Even  the  children 
might  be  combing  the  wool  or  camel's  hair. 
Others  had  to  provide  the  wheat  and  corn  to 
feed  the  laborers,  and  furnish  the  gold  and 
other  materials  for  the  ornaments.  Indeed 
the  whole  church  was  at  work.  All  their 
energies  were  directed  to  this  one  great  ob- 
ject, and  the  result  was  the  most  magnificent 
building  the  world  ever  saw.  Now,  we  think 
this  illustration  in  relation  to  the  division  of 
labor  may  be  with  propriety  applied  to  the 
building  of  the  New  Testament  church.  All 
can  do  something,  and  we  now  intend  to 
show  how  it  can  be  done,  and  that  it  cannot 
be  left  undone  without  incurring  God's  dis- 
pleasure. 

The  apostles  were  chosen  of  God  as  the 


ALL   CAN   WORK.  23 

mastei^-builclers  in  the  New  Testament  church ; 
but  they  had  to  qilarry  the  rocks  and  hew  the 
timber  themselves.  They  built  on  no  other 
man's  foundation;  they  went  out  into  the 
highways  and  hedges,  and  compelled  men  to 
come  in.  They  did  not  build  fine  churches, 
and  settle  down  over  them  as  pastors,  but 
they  w^ent  from  place  to  place,  estabHshing 
churches  and  setting  under-workmen  over 
them,  to  feed  the  flock  and  direct  their  labors. 
We  read  in  the  New  Testament  of^both  men 
and  women  that  were  fellow-helpers  in  this 
great  work  in  the  church.  We  are  told  that 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  three  thousand 
were  converted,  they  immediately  began  to 
tell  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God ;  that  is, 
they  began  to  preach  and  tell  what  God  had 
done  for  their  souls  :  thus  began  gospel  work. 
The  effect  of  this  earnest  gospel  labor  was 
in  a  few  years  to  overturn  heathen  mythology 
and  pagan  superstitions,  and  almost  expel 
the  prince  of  darkness  from  his  strong-holds. 
And  who  can  doubt  that  if  the  same  work- 
ing spirit  had  continued  a  few  centuries,  all 
the  hosts  of  hell  would  have   been   driven 


24  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

from  earth,  and  the  happiness  of  Eden  been 
regamed. 

But  danger  always  lurks  behind  security  in 
an  enemy's  country.  Eternal  vigilance  can 
alone  secure  success.  When  Aaron  and  Hur 
left  Moses  to  hold  up  his  own  hands,  the 
Amalekites  prevailed.  God's  mite-givers  and 
mason-tenders  must  all  be  busy. 

When  head  workmen  began  to  seek  their 
own  aggrandizement,  and  work  by  plans  of 
their  own  inventing,  the  result  was,  they 
marred  God's  work,  and  defaced  the  church 
by  daubing  with  untempered  mortar.  The 
beautiful  spiritual  temple,  commenced  by  in- 
spired hands,  became  divided :  one  was  for 
Paul,  another  for  Apollos,  and  another  for 
Cephas.  But  as  the  work  declined  in  one 
place,  it  was  begun  in  another.  Those  that 
were  persecuted  for  Christ's  saike,  and  exiled 
from  their  homes,  began  their  work  in  other 
places ;  and  thus  the  wrath  of  man  was  made 
to  praise  God,  and  faithful  labor  was  reward- 
ed wherever  it  was  performed. 


DUTIES    OF    CHUKCH    OFFICEKS.  25 


DUTIES  OF  CHURCH  OFFICERS. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  main  object  we 
have  in  view  in  writing  this  series,  which  is 
to  stir  up  the  officers  and  private  members  of 
our  American  churches.  The  erection  of  the 
temple  would  never  have  been  accompHshed 
if  none  but  the  overseers  had  engaged  in  la- 
bor. The  Quarriers  in  the  mountains,  the 
hewers  of  wood  and  the  drawers  of  water,  had 
all  to  work ;  and  so  it  must  be  in  the  church 
of  Christ,  before  Satan's  empire  is  overturned. 

We  shall  first  address  ourselves  to  office- 
bearers in  the  church  who  are  not  set  apart 
to  the  work  of  public  official  preaching.  All 
denominations  have  some  order  of  lay  rulers 
in  the  church,  who  are  chosen  on  account  of 
tLeir  supposed  piety  and  wisdom  for  that  pur- 
pose. These  persons  are  generally  looked  up 
to  in  the  church,  and  when  faithful  are  enti- 
tled to  double  honor.  They  are  expected  to 
take  the  lead  as  gospel  workers  in  Sabbath- 


26  GOSPEL    WOBKERS. 

schools  and  prajer-iijeetings,  to  visit  tlie  sick, 
assist  tlie  pastor  in  watcliing  over  the  flock, 
and  be  foremost  in  every  good  word  and  work ; 
and  above  all,  to  be  examples  in  holy  living 
and  upright  walking  before  God.  They  are 
really  the  Aarons  and  Hurs  in  the  camp  of 
the  New  Testament  Israel.  In  view  of  their 
office,  there  is  more  expected  of  them  than 
of  the  private  members.  They  are  the  lieu- 
tenants, sergeants,  and  corporals  of  the  Lord's 
army;  the  leaders  of  small  subdivisions  and 
scouting  parties  to  guard  the  outposts.  With- 
out such  officers  an  army  would  be  unsafe  in 
an  enemy's  country ;  and  where  they  are  inef- 
ficient and  negligent  in  duty,  they  endanger  the 
whole  army.  Even  the  best  selected  positions 
and  most  carefully  arranged  line  of  battle  may 
all  be  baffled  and  defeated  by  a  few  of  these 
under-officers  neglecting  tneir  duty.  Their 
responsibiUty  is  awful ;  the  battle  is  for  men's 
souls,  that  must  live  or  die  for  ever.  The  hon- 
ors that  await  the  victors  are  not  medals  of 
gold,  but  crowns  of  glory,  that  never  fade  away. 
The  question  may  now  arise  in  the  minds 
of  some  of  this  class  who  have  done  but  little 


DUTIES    OF    CHURCH    OFFICERS.  27 

or  nothing  for  Christ,  What  shall  I  do,  and 
how  shall  I  do  it  ?  My  friend,  the  old  prov- 
erb is  true,  "Where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a 
way."  The  first  thing  is  to  get  the  will.  I 
think  I  hear  some  one  whispering  to  himself 
or  herself,  The  will  must  come  from  God,  and 
he  has  never  given  me  the  disposition  to  be  a 
gospel  worker.  Did  God  ever  give  you  an 
education  or  a  crop  without  effort  on  your 
part  to  obtain  it  ?  I  think  not.  The  disposi- 
^n  to  work  for  God  is  gotten  pretty  much  the 
same  way  other  things  are  gotten.  Do  you 
read  the  missionary  reports  of  the  various  be- 
nevolent societies,  and  kee^  yourself  informed 
as  to  the  wants  of  dying  souls?  Do  you 
notice  the  thousands  all  around  you  that  are 
dying  in  their  sins  ?  And  do  you  believe  that 
eternal  banishment  fi'om  God  awaits  the  final- 
ly  impenitent  ?  Do  you  believe  the  gospel  is 
the  remedy,  and  God's  people  the  agents  to 
apply  it ;  and  that  he  will  hold  you  responsi- 
ble for  your  share  of  the  work  ?  If  all  your 
neighbors  around  you  were  dying  with  hun- 
ger, and  3^ou  knew  where  there  was  plenty 
of  bread,  would  jon  excuse  yourself  on  the 


28  GOSPEL    WORKEES. 

ground  tliat  God  had  given  you  no  disposition 
to  go  and  tell  tliem  wliere  it  was  ?  No.  Their 
sad  condition  would  stimulate  3^ou  to  act  with 
energy  and  haste.  And  why  not  when  the 
soul  is  endangered?  How  can  you  account' 
for  the  disposition  in  the  one  case  and  not  in 
the  other  ?  ^  Must  there  not  be  a  lurking  infi- 
delity about  you  somewhere,  or  an  unpardon- 
able ignorance  as  to  your  duty  ?  If  you  be- 
lieved as  fully  in  soul-danger  as  you  do  in 
body-danger  it  would  be  otherwise. 

The  effect  of  inefficient  officers  is  to  make 
an  inefficient  army,  and  vice  versa.  You  are 
first  to  stir  yourself  up  by  considering  the 
wants  of  dying  souls  around  you  ;  pray  for 
them  tiU  your  heart  becomes  interested  in 
their  salvation,  and  then  the  work  will  be- 
come dehghtful.  ^Your  neglect  of  duty  dis- 
courages those  you  should  lead,  and  holds 
them  back  from  God's  v/ork.  Thus,  instead 
of  building  Zion's  walls,  you  prevent  others 
from  doing  it  by  your  example.  All  such 
church  officers  will  have  a  fearful  account  to 
render  at  the  last  day. 

It  is  your  duty  to  hold  prayer-meetings,  and 


DUTIES    OF    CHURCH    OFFICEES.  29 

teach  in  Sabbath-scliools,  and  cnt  out  work 
for  all  in  your  district ;  to  be  punctual  in 
attendance  at  all  such  places,  visit  families, 
talk  and  pray  with  them,  and  use  all  the  means 
God  has  put  in  your  power  to  do  good.  I 
know  a  church  that  was  begun  by  an  elder  in 
a  very  wicked  place  ;  and  with  the  aid  of  two 
others  he  built  up  a  church  of  two  hundred 
members  in  ten  years,  with  only  occasional 
preaching.  One  of  them  has  become  a  min- 
ister, another  a  general  agent  of  the  Ameri- 
can Tract  Society,  and  the  other  a  colporteur. 
These  were  all  humble  farmers  when  they  be- 
gan, but  work  developed  their  power  and  in- 
creased their  usefulness.  Scores  are  now  in 
the  ministry  who  began  their  w^ork  for  God 
without  intending  to  enter  -the  ministry,  and 
they  are  generally  the  most  useful  men.  We 
have  doubts  whether  any  man  has  sufficient 
evidence  to  believe  he  has  been  called  of  God 
to  preach  the  gospel  till  he  is  made  the  in- 
strument of  salvation  to  some  souls.  Is  there 
not  a  school-house  near  you,  or  some  private 
dwelling  where  you  can  hold  a  prayer-meeting 
and  Sabbath-school  ?    If  so,  is  it  not  *a  place 


30  GOSPEL   WORKEES. 

where  yoii  can  work  for  God?  You  must 
soon  meet  your  neighbors  that  live  around 
you  in  eternity,  and  give  an  account  for  the 
improvement  or  misimprovement  of  your  tal- 
ents and  opportunities  to  do  them  good.  It 
makes  me  feel  sad  when  I  think  of  the  many 
office-bearers  in  the  church  whom  I  know, 
that  do  not  even  worship  God  in  their  fami- 
lies. A  minister  once  said  to  me,  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  "I  have  seven  office-bearers  in 
my  church,  only  one  of  whom  has  prayers  in 
his  house  even  on  Sunday ;  none  of  the  others 
ever  pray  in  their  famihes."  Within  the  last 
fifteen  years,  several  pastors  have  been  called 
and  settled  there  for  a  short  time,  but  none 
have  succeeded ;  neither  can  any  man  succeed 
while  that  state  of  things  remains.  Christ  says, 
*.'  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me,  and  he 
that  gathereth  not  with  me  scattereth  abroad." 
I  entreat  you,  whoever  you  are  that  hold 
office  in  the  church  of  Christ,  break  off  these 
l^ands  of  indolence  that  bind  your  soul,  and 
go  to  work  for  Christ.  You  will  never  know 
of  God's  salvation  in  its  highest  attainable 
sense  until  you  become  a  gospel  worker. 


DUTIES   OF    CHURCH   MEMBEES.  31 

VI. 

DUTIES  OF  CHURCB  MEMBERS. 

We  have  addressed  those  who  hold  office 
and  direct  the  work  of  the  spiritual  temple ; 
but  after  all  we  must  depend,  under  God, 
upon  the  rank  and  file  for  the  subjugation  of 
this  world  to  Christ.  They  hav%not  only  to 
furnish  the  supplies,  but  to  do  much  of  the 
labor.  Take  all  the  officers  of  the  best  army 
in  the  world,  and  send  them  into  an  enemy's 
country  without  supplies  or  common  soldiers, 
and  they  can  do  but  little. 

"We  shall  first  refer  to  the  matter  of  supplies. 
It  is  the  duty  of  every  patriot  to  support  the 
government  under  which  he  hves  and  from 
which  he  derives  protection  while  constitu- 
tionally administered ;  and  where  this  is  neg- 
lected there  is  strong  reason  to  doubt  the 
man's  patriotism ;  so  there  is  strong  reason 
to  doubt  the  loyalty  of  that  person  to  Christ 
who  neglects  to  furnish  supplies  according  to 
his  ability  to  Christ's  cause.     Let  such  a  one 


32  GOSPEL   WORKERS. 

remember  tliat  the  decisions  of  tlie  great  day 
are  made  on  the  ground  not  only  of  sins  com- 
mitted, but  of  duties  neglected.  "Inasmuch 
as  ye  did  it  iiot  to  one  of  these  little  ones,  ye 
did  it  not  to  me."  Bead  the  last  part  of 
the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  and  pon- 
der it  in  your  heart.  It  was  He  that  spoke 
as  man  never  spoke  that  uttered  that  awful 
sentence,  and  he  will  repeat  it  again  on  the 
judgment-day.  I  that  write  and  you  that 
read  must  hear  it,  willing  or  unwilHng.  Many 
professed  Christians  can  find  money  to  spend 
in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  or  extravagant 
dress  or  equipage,  that  can  find  none  to  aid 
in  Christ's  work.  Ask  them  to  give  to  the 
cause  of  missions,  or  to  send  Bibles  and  re- 
ligious tracts  to  the  destitute,  and  they  are 
too  poor ;  but  advertise  the  sale  of  jDrofitable 
stocks,  and  they  have  hundreds  of  dollars  to 
invest,  I  have  known  professedly  reHgious 
men  to  stay  away  from  their  business  a  whole 
day  when  an  agent  of  some  benevolent  soci- 
ety was  about,  for  fear  they  would  have  to 
give  a  few  dollars ;  and  thus  actually  to  lose 
more  by  their  absence  than  they  would  be 


DUTIES   OF   CHURCH   MEMBERS.  33 

expected  to  give.  Others  will  tell  you  to  call 
again,  wlien  it  is  as  conveni'ent  to  give  then 
as  at  any  other  time ;  but  their  hope  is,  that 
you  will  either  not  call,  or  that  they  may  hap- 
pen to  be  absent  when  you  come.  Are  such 
gospel  workers  ?  Christ's  glory  and  the  sal- 
vation of  souls  cannot  be  uppermost  in  such 
hearts.  Although  the  Christian  religion  is 
the  cheapest  system  of  religion  to  be  found  on 
earth,  and  even  cheaper  than  infidehty,  judg- 
ing from  the  worldly  circumstances  of  those 
that  embrace  the  different  systems,  stiU  many 
complain  of  the  former.  Some  able  exposi- 
tors of  Jewish  law  say  that  the  Jews  gave  one 
third  of  the  whole  of  their  proceeds  each  year ; 
and  that  just  so  long  as  they  did  it  punctually 
and  honestly  they  increased  in  wealth,  and  as 
soon  as  they  withheld  they  became  poor. 

There  are  some  who  are  not  able  to  go  out 
into  the  highways  and  hedges  to  work,  owing 
to  age  or  bodily  infirmities,  whom  God  has 
blessed  with  large  means.  All  governments 
take  substitutes  in  the  place  of  those  who  can- 
not go  to  war,  and  we  have  a  wonderful  case 
of  substitution  in  the  divine  government — 

Gosp.  Workers.  3 


34  GOSPEL    WOEKEES. 

God  the  Father  taking  his  Son  Jesiis  Christ 
as  a  substitute  for  sinners.  Those  unable 
personally  to  engage,  can  v/ork  by  proxy. 
There  are  many  willing  and  anxious  to  work 
for  Christ  in  some  department  for  which  they 
are  fitted,  but  who  must  have  some  support, 
and  without  it  they  cannot  go.  Now,  if  you 
pay  or  aid  in  paying  one  of  those  who  ^ould 
not  otherwise  go,  you  are  as  truly  a  gospel 
worker  as  he  that  goes.  I  well  knew  a  lady 
who  was  very  infirm,  and  had  an  annual  in- 
come of  just  six  hundred  dollars.  She  gave 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  of  that  to  a  man 
to  visit  families  and  distribute  books  and 
tracts  in  a  destitute  region.  But  she  did  not 
stop  there ;  she  invited  a  few  pious  ladies  to 
her  house  once  each  week,  to  unite  their  pray- 
ers Tvith  hers  to  God  to  bless  that  man's  la- 
bors, and  few  men  within  my  knowledge  have 
ever  been  so  successful  in  saving  souls.  How 
many  hundreds  there  are  in  our  land  that 
could  do  as  this  woman.  If  you  are  in  such 
circumstances,  go  and  do  likewise,  and  in  the 
gTeat  day  of  eternity  you  will  have  the  reward 
of  a  gospel  worker. 


DUTIES  OF  CHURCH  MEMBERS.     35 

Nothing  perhaps  casts  sucli  a  dark  sliadow 
over  tlie  great  mass  of  religious  professors  as 
their  want  of  gospel  benevolence.  Much  of 
the  barrenness  of  soul  that  seems  to  pervade 
the  church  no  doubt  comes  from  this  cause. 
The  man  that  only  sows  half  enough  seed  on 
his  ground  must  expect  but  half  a  crop,  while 
he  that  sows  bountifully  shall  reap  bounti- 
fully. No  doubt  thousands  who  are  cramped 
in  their  worldly  circumstances  and  barren  in 
soul,  are  so  by  neglecting  their  duty  to  God 
and  man.  There  are  a  number  of  texts  that 
I  cannot  explain  on  any  other  principle.  "  He 
that  watereth  shall  be  watered;"  "there  is 
that  scatter eth,  and  yet  increaseth ;"  to  him 
that  giveth  shall  be  given,  good  measure  and 
running  over.  The  whole  history  of  the  Jew- 
ish nation  proved  this  doctrine  true,  as  we 
have  already  suggested.  Their  prosperity 
ebbed  and  flowed  in  proportioja  to  their  faith- 
fulness in  paying  their  tithes  and  offerings. 
When  they  complained  of  their  poverty  and 
distress,  God  tells  them  the  cause  :  they  had 
robbed  him.  Then  he  urges  them  to  prove 
his  faitlifulness  to  his  promise  by  bringing 


36  GOSPEL   WORKEES. 

all  tlieir  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  and  see 
if  he  would  not  pour  out  on  them  a  blessing 
until  there  was  not  room  to  receive  it.  Many- 
professors  of  rehgion  actually  speak  and  act 
as  if  God  had  no  claims  upon  them.  How 
often  do  we  hear  men  say,  Oh,  I  must  be  just 
before  I  am  generous.  That  is  the  very  prin- 
ciple I  want  to  urge  upon  you.  God's  claims 
are  the  first.  You  are  one  of  God's  tenants, 
and  justice  says.  Pay  him  first.  The  Jew  was 
to  give  the  first  fruits  of  his  field  and  of  his 
flocks  and  herds,  and  till  this  was  done  he 
had  no  right  to  use  any  for  himself.  Then 
to  be  just,  you  must  give  God  the  first,  and 
to  do  otherwise  is  dishonest.  God  is  the  real 
owner  of  all  that  you  have,  and  if  you  are  a 
Christian,  he  has  a  two-fold  right  to  you :  he 
has  the  right  to  you  by  creation,  and  a  still 
higher  right  by  redemption.  Make  no  more 
of  these  sinful^excuses,  but  become  a  gospel 
worker  by  proxy,  if  you  can  in  no  other  way. 


PERSONAL   LABOR.  31 

VII. 

PERSONAL  LABOR. 

We  now  come  to  speak  of  tlie  duty  of  per- 
sonal labor.  Tliis  we  look  upon  as  indispen- 
sable in  making  liigh  attainments  in  tlie  divine 
life,  and  as  perhaps  standing  above  every 
thing  else  in  promoting  our  own  soul's  highest 
interest.  Giving  money  to  keep  others  at 
work  in  the  vineyard  is  an  important  means 
of  grace;  and  we  generally  find  that  among 
those  who  have  physical  abihty,  those  who 
give  most  in  proportion  to  their  means,  do 
most.  The  disposition  to  give  and  the  will  to 
do  generally  go  hand  in  hand. 

We  take  the  high  ground  that  no  soul  was 
ever  born  of  God  who  cannot  labor  person- 
ally for  Christ.  High  or  low,  rich  or  poor, 
sick  or  well,  you  can  do  something  for  Christ. 
A  martyr  who  was  gagged  during  a  time  of 
terrible  j)ersecution,  when  asked  to  recant, 
pointed  to  heaven  with  his  finger,  as  if  to  say. 
There  is  Christ. 


38  GOSrEL    WORKERS. 

The  same  difficulty  will  come  up  to  which 
we  alluded  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  want  of 
disposition.  The  only  way  you  can  speedily 
and  certainly  get  rid  of  this  difficulty  is  to  go 
to  work.  The  longer  you  carry  a  burden  the 
heavier  it  becomes,  or  rather,  the  more  unable 
you  are  to  bear  it. 

I  knew  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church 
who  lived  in  a  village  of  about  five  hundred 
inhabitants.  Keligion  was  at  a  very  low  ebb. 
He  felt  very  deeply  for  the  condition  of  the 
church  and  for  perishing  souls.  He  resolved 
to  go  and  visit  the  famihes,  and  scatter  relig- 
ious tracts  among  them.  He  selected  his 
tracts,  but  his  heart  failed.  He  put  off  start- 
ing for  the  time,  with  a  hope  that  he  should 
get  a  disposition  to  go.  The  more  he  thought 
over  it,  the  more  lions  he  saw  in  the  way. 
The  matter  lay  heavy  on  his  soul  night  and 
day.  He  jDrayed  and  prayed  again,  but  all 
his  praying  did  not  remove  the  lions.  At 
last  he  started  with  fear  and  trembling,  and 
walked  into  the  adjoining  house,  and  began 
with  a  stammering"  tongue.  In  a  moment  his 
tongue  was  loosed,  and  his  soul  fired  with  a 


PERSONAL    LABOE.  39 

live  coal  from  God's  altar,  and  the  result  was 
the  awakening  of  a  young  man.  He  went  to 
the  next  house  without  fear.  A  young  girl 
was  awakened.  By  this  time  his  soul  w^as 
fired  with  an  irresistible  impetuosity,  and  at 
the  next  house  two  souls  were  awakened. 
Special  religious  services  were  held,  and  in  a 
month  nearly  one  hundred  souls  were  hope- 
fully converted.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  ev6ry  Christian  to  do  just  what  this 
man  did,  and  to  the  same  extent  that  he  did  it. 
But  there  are  a  thousand  ways,  in  some  of 
which  all  can  be  gospel  workers. 

I  well  knew  a  Mr.  B — — ,  who  was  ticket- 
agent  at  an  important  railroad  office  for  five 
years,  and  made  it  a  rule  to  give  a  small  tract 
with  each  ticket  he  sold.  He  told  me  that  he 
had  received  twenty-two  letters  from  persons 
who  had  received  tracts  from  him,  stating  that 
ihey  had  been  the  means  of  their  conversion. 
He  bought  fifty  dollars'  worth  annually  out  of 
his  salary,  to  distribute  in  this  way.  He  told 
me  that  when  he  was  married  he  was  an  infi- 
del, but  his  mother-in-law  was  an  untiring 
tract  distributer,  and  he  lived  with  her,  and 


40  GOSPEL   WORKEES. 

she  put  a  tract  at  liis  door  every  Sunday  morn- 
ing. For  a  year  lie  scarcely  read  one  of  tliem. 
At  last  the  title  of  one  struck  him ;  he  read, 
and  was  saved.  This  man's  position  seemed 
to  be  an  unlikely  one  to  do  good,  yet  he  was  a 
successful  gospel  worker. 

Judge  S of  Western  Virginia  always 

took  a  pocket  full  of  tracts  to  court  with  him. 
On  one  occasion  he  had  before  him  a  desper- 
ate character  indicted  for  assault  and  battery. 
When  he  pronounced  the  sentence  of  the 
court  on  him  he  gave  him  a  tract.  It  led  to 
his  conversion,  and  he  became  an  eminent 
minister  of  the  gospel. 

A  merchant  of  my  acquaintance  put  a  tract 
in  every  bundle  of  goods  he  sold.  He  told 
me  he  was  astonished  at  the  number  of  in- 
stances in  which  they  had  accompHshed  good, 
and  that  he  believed  they  increased  his  cus- 
tom and  profits  five  times  as  much  as  the 
tracts  cost. 

A  pious  lawyer  told  me  of  one  of  his  clients 
who  had  spent  a  large  fortune  in  litigation 
and  intemperance,  to  whom  he  gave  the  tract, 
The  Fool's  Pence,  and  it  was  the  means  of 


PEBSONAL    LABOE.  41 

his  conversion;  and  now,  said  he,  I  always 
keep  them  on  hand. 

A  pions  father  in  the  city  of  E had  a 

son  that  became  a  great  prodigal.  He  finally 
left  home  and  went  to  New  Orleans.  His 
father  sent  "  Come  to  Jesus"  to  him  by  mail. 
It  led  him  to  Christ,  and  he  returned  home 
"  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind." 

We  have  stated  these  facts  to  show  that  in 
every  condition  of  hfe  we  can  be  gospel  work- 
ers. The  facilities  for  gospel  work  have  been 
so  increased  that  all  are  left  without  excuse. 
Labor-saving  machinery  for  working  in  the 
moral  world  has  fully  kept  pace  with  the  ma- 
chinery in  cultivating  the  natural  world ;  and 
woe  unto  him  that  will  not  use  it.  Better  for 
him  if  he  had  never  been  born. 


42  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

VIII. 

ASSOCIATED  EFFORT. 

Before  we  proceed  in  urging  isolated  indi- 
vidual effort  in  gospel  work,  we  devote  a  chap- 
ter to  associat.ed  effort  While  there  is  much, 
very  much,  that  can -be  done  by  individual 
effort,  still  a  greater  work  perhaps  may  be 
done  by  combined  effort.  There  was  many  a 
stone  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  that  no  one 
or  two  individuals  could  ever  have  put  in  its 
proper  place.  Armies,  railroad  companies,  in- 
corporated institutions  for  humane  and  char- 
itable purposes,  all  act  on  the  principle  of 
combination.  It  gives  a  moral  power  just  in 
proportion  to  the  number  and  influence  of 
those  associated  together.  There  is  a  certain 
class  of  people  in  the  world  that  are  more 
influenced  by  the  name  of  Judge  somebody, 
or  Mrs.  Dr.  somebody  else,  than  they  are  by 
the  object  to  be  attained.  Thus,  the  with- 
holding of  earnest  cooperation  on  the  part  of 


ASSOCIATED   EFFOBT.  43 

persons  of  influence  is  throwing  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  doing  good.  Influence  is  just  so 
much  capital  invested  in  any  good  associa- 
tion, and  will  be  so  rewarded  at  last. 

The  great  Head  of  the  church  seems  to 
take  notice  of  little  things — sparrows,  mites, 
and  cups  of  cold  water — which  many  lofty- 
minded  people  entirely  overlook.  The  point 
which  we  wish  to  press  with  all  earnestness 
is,  the  united  effort  of  God's  people  of  every 
name  in  the  direct  work  of  saving  souls  from 
death. 

There  are  certain  great  fundamental  truths 
in  which  aU  real  Christians  agree,  and  with- 
out any  sacrifice  of  principle  they  can  unite 
with  their  fellow-Christians  of  other  names 
in  pressing  them  on  their  fellow-men.  The 
want  of  this  cooperation  in  gospel  work  is  one 
of  the  gTeat  reasons  why  God's  work  pro- 
gresses so  slowly.  Ignorant  as  the  world  is 
of  spiritual  rehgion,  it  has  formed  a  pretty 
correct  idea  of  the  way  religion  should  affect 
those  that  embrace  it.  The  world  think  they 
should  feel  alike,  act  alike,  and  work  alike, 
and  all  together.     "By  this  shall  the  world 


44  GOSPEL    WOKKERS. 

know  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  love  one  an- 
other ;"  and  people  that  love  one  another  can 
certainly  work  together.  What  we  would 
urge  is,  the  formation  of  an  association  in 
every  town  and  village  in  our  country,  and  in 
all  the  rural  districts,  for  the  promotion  of  vital 
godliness  and  gospel  work.  No  matter  by 
what  name  you  call  the  association — call  them 
Busy  Bees,  Christ's  Helpers,  Gospel  Workers, 
Tract  Visitors,  or  what  you  please — so  they 
do  the  work.  Neither  does  it  matter  where 
you  get  the  tools  you  work  with,  provided'the 
work  is  done. 

In  all  plans  where  Christians  bear  different 
names  and  associate  together,  which  experi- 
ence has  proved  the  best  way,  they  must 
select  tools  that  all  are  willing  to  work  with. 
In  other  words,  form  a  tract  society,  divide 
the  place  into  districts,  select  such  tracts  and 
little  books  as  you  all  think  best  suited  to  save 
souls,  and  go  once  or  twice  each  month  to 
every  family;  give  or  loan  them  what  you 
think  is  best  suited  to  their  case.  Go  two 
and  two  if  you  can,  as  the  first  disciples  did. 
Talk  earnestly  and  affectionately  to  aU  you 


ASSOCIATED   EFFOET.  45 

meet  about  salvation;  meet  together  once 
each  month  to  consult  and  pray  over  your 
work,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  be  able 
to  report,  as  the  early  disciples  did,  that  the 
very  devils  were  subject  unto  you.  And 
what  will  surprise  you  most  will  be  the  aston- 
ishing effect  on  yourself.  It  may  settle  a 
question  that  has  often  troubled  you  sadly,  Am 
I  a  child  of  God,  or  am  I  not?  If  you  find 
the  work  a  pleasant  one,  and  feel  that  you  are 
in  sympathy  with  Christ,  who  wept  over  sin- 
ners, then  you  have  evidence  that  you  are  his ; 
but  if  you  cannot  become  interested  for  souls 
by  this  work,  then  you  have  made  a  discov- 
ery that  may  be  worth  more  than  a  world,  that 
you  were  one  of  the  self-deceived  ones.  In 
either  case  you  may,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will, 
be  greatly  the  gainer.  Many  a  humble,  trem- 
bling Christian  has  been  able  to  read  his  title 
clear  to  mansions  in  the  skies  by  means  of  a 
few  hours  work. 

In  rural  districts  and  country  congrega- 
tions I  would  suggest  a  plan  somewhat  dif- 
ferent. Kaise  a  fand  sufficient  to  purchase 
the  books  and  tracts,  and  ajDpoint  as  many 


4G  GOSPEL   WOEKEES. 

persons  as  are  necessary  to  hand  one  to  eacli 
family  on  eacli  Sabbath  when  there  is  preach- 
ing. If  the  stock  is  sufficient,  instruct  those 
that  receive  it  to  hand  it  to  some  one  else; 
if  not,  let  it  be  returned  on  the  next  Sabbath 
and  another  gotten.  In  this  way  each  family 
will  have  a  sermon  in  hand,  and  perhaps  in 
the  head  and  the  heart.  In  the  course  of  a 
year  each  family  would  have  read  some  of  the 
best  religious  hterature  of  the  age.  The  la- 
bors of  the  pastor  would  be  backed  up  and 
almost  doubled.  Fifty  dollars  will  supply  the 
largest  congregation  in  our  country  with  a 
tract  every  Sabbath. 

I  believe  the  arithmetic  of  earth  could  never 
compute  the  results  of  one  year's  labor  of  this 
kind,  if  it  was  adopted  in  aU  the  churches  in 
our  land.  And  if  we  can  influence  only  one 
hundred  villages  and  churches  to  enter  upon 
this  work,  we  shall  be  amply  rewarded  for 
writing  this  series. 

If  one  in  five  of  the  five  milhon  professed 
Christians  in  this  land  could  be  induced  to 
enter  upon  this  work,  each  would  have  a 
parish  of  thirty  souls  to  labor  and  pray  for. 


ASSOCIATED    EFFORT.  4t 

Even  if  one  in  fifty  would  enter,  on  the  work, 
it  would  more  tlaan  double  the  moral  power 
of  the  church.  How  then  shall  we  get  such 
a  work  begun?  Let  pastors  invite  all  the 
female  members  of  their  churches  who  can  to 
meet  at  some  point,  and  lay  the  matter  before 
them,  and  organize  them  into  a  society,  and 
they  will  soon  raise  the  funds  and  have  the 
work  begun.  Every  pastor  should  labor  to 
imite  his  people  in  this  work;  and  the  pas- 
tor that  is  the  most  active  in  it  will  reap  the 
most  benefit  from  it.  In  the  army,  the  com- 
mander that  can  arrange  his  men  so  that 
each  one  is  brought  into  effective  service, 
other  things  being  equal,  will  be  the  most 
successful.  So  that  pastor  that  can  set  his 
people  to  work  to  the  best  possible  advan- 
tage doubles  his  own  power  and  usefulness. 
The  grand  defect  of  this  age  of  the  church  is, 
that  in  so  many  cases  the  pastor  is  left  to 
do  all  the  work  himself,  except  in  the  Sun- 
day-school, and  not  unfrequently  most  of  it 
there  too. 


48  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

IX. 

ASSOCIATED  EFFORT. 

CONTINUED. 

As  we  look  upon  this  as  a  matter  of  vital 
importance,  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  devote 
another  chapter  to  it.  In  some  places  it  may 
not  be  possible  to  get  pastors  to  enter  on  this 
work,  for  reasons  that  may  be  satisfactory  to 
themselves.  In  such  a  case  we  would  appeal 
especially  to  ladies.  To  the  honor  of  woman, 
she  was  last  at  the  cross  and  first  at  the  sep- 
ulchre. We  are  fully  aware  that  many  are  so 
situated  or  tied  down  with  domestic  cares  or 
infirmities,  that  they  cannot  go  out  to  work 
in  the  gospel  vineyard;  but  there  is  scarcely 
a  village  of  two  or  three  hundred  souls  in  our 
country,  where  there  is  not  one  or  more  that, 
by  exercising  a  little  self-denial,  could  visit 
every  family  in  the  village  once  or  twice  each 
month  with  a  tract  or  small  book ;  and  there 
is  scarcely  a  village  to  be  found  of  that  size, 


ASSOCIATED   EFFORT.  49 

where  there  are  not  some  persons  who  seldom 
or  never  go  to  church.  Now  if  these  persons 
were  dying  of  some  dreadful  plague,  and  you 
knew  a  remedy,  would  you  not  quit  your  work 
and  ran  with  all  speed  to  give  it  to  them  or 
tell  them  of  it?  Yes,  you  v/ould  even  rise  out 
of  your  bed  at  midnight  to  wait  upon  them ; 
and  even  if  you  had  doubts  about  their  will- 
ingness to  receive  it,  that  would  not  prevent 
you  from  doing  your  duty.  Just  apply  this 
principle,  and  act  accordingly.  These  neigh- 
bors are  dying  of  sin,  and  will  soon  be  beyond 
recovery ;  you  know  the  remedy,  and  that  if 
it  is  received  it  will  certainly  cure  them.  You 
can  tell  them  you  had  the  same  disease,  and 
how  it  cured  you.  If  they  reject  both  you 
and  the  remedy,  you  have  your  reward  in  the 
consciousness  that  you  have  done  your  duty  ; 
you  cannot  know  whether  they  will  reject  you 
or  not,  till  you  try ;  you  must  not  take  it  for 
granted  that  they  will,  till  you  make  the  effort. 
May  it  not  be  that  jour  indifference  about 
your  Master's  work  is  the  very  reason  they 
have  neglected  their  souls  ?  I  firmly  believe 
that  the  indifftrence  of  professors  of  religion 

Gosp.  WnrkeiR.  4 


50  GOSPEL    WOEKERS. 

has  done  much  to  increase  infidelity  and  re- 
tard the  progress  of  God's  work.  Unless  the 
professed  people  of  God  awake  to  their  duty, 
I  fear  a  few  more  years  will  leave  u&  Httle 
better  than  the  seven  churches  of  Asia. 

A  distinguished  minister  said  to  the  wiiter 
a  few  days  ago,  "  My  heart  trembles  for  the 
ark  of  God  in  this  land :  I  hear  men  in  whose 
piety  I  once  had  confidence  now  saying, '  Ke- 
ligion  is  played  out ;'  and  they  neither  respect 
God's  day  nor  name."  If  there  ever  was  a 
time  in  the  history  of  God's  church  when  his 
people  were  called  on  to  put  forth  earnest 
effort,  now  is  the  time.  We  appeal  to  the 
pious  praying  women  of  the  land :  Come  to 
the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty.  It 
was  woman  that  first  proclaimed  to  the  world, 
"  The  Lord  is  risen."  Talli  to  each  other  about 
the  affairs  of  Christ's  kingdom  till  your  hearts 
burn  Hke  the  hearts  of  the  disciples  on  their 
way  to  Emmaus ;  ]3ray  together,  plan  together, 
work  together,  and  God  will  work  with  you. 

Do  n't  be  afraid  of  the  scoffs  of  the  world ; 
your  Master  was  scoffed  at  before  you,  and 
blessed  are  ye  when  ye  are  ;^ersecuted  for 


ASSOCIATED   EFFORT.  51 

rigliteousness'  sake  :  rejoice  and  be  exceeding 
glad,  for  great  is  yonr  reward  in  lieaven.  But 
do  not  many  suffer  reyiling  for  the  want  of 
religion,  by  the  world  calling  them  hypocrites, 
and  simply  because  they  do  nothing  to  distin- 
guish themselves  from  the  world?  and  v>^hat 
is  worse,  Christ's  cause  suffers  by  the  sinful 
indifference  of  those  who  are  his  professed 
people  more  than  from  any  thing  else. 

I  beseech  you,  do  n't  throw  this  little  book 
aside  and  say,  "  I  am  not  called  on  to  do  any 
thing  of  this  kind."  Where  did  you  get  that 
revelation  ?  Has  God  told  you  so  ?  No,  my 
friend,  it  comes  from  the  prince  of  darkness. 
Well  he  knows  that  many  a  GoKath  has  fallen 
before  just  such  weapons  as  we  are  urging 
you  to  use  ;  and  if  we  can  succeed  in  rousing 
a  few  thousand  pious  women  to  engage  in  this 
work,  it  will  throw  all  hell  into  consternation ; 
it  would  be  equal  to  Luther  before  the  Diet 
of  Worms.  I  know  very  well  Satan  will  say 
to  each  one,  "A  httle  more  sleep,  a  httle  more 
slumber,  a  httle  more  folding  of  the  hands  to 
sleep."  He  will  arouse  all  the  imagmary  lions 
that  cowardice  can  invent,  and  no  doubt  wiD 


52  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

overcome  some  of  the  more  timid.  But  I  can 
tell  you  from  past  experience,  and  so  can  all 
wlio  have  tried  it,  that  these  lions  will  flee 
before  jou  as  chaff'  before  the  wind  or  like  the 
mirage  of  the  desert.  Then  you  will  go  on 
your  way  rejoicing  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.  As  you  water  others  God  will 
water  you. 

I  think  I  hear  some  one  saying,  "  I  have 
been  visiting  and  scattering  tracts,  and  I  don't 
see  that  they  have  done  any  good."  The 
prophet  Isaiah  said,  "  Who  hath  believed  our 
report  ?  and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
revealed?"  But  should  he  therefore  have 
stopped  warning  the  people?  We  are  told 
of  a  city  where  Christ  could  do  no  mighty 
works,  because  of  their  unbelief.  Should  he 
have  returned  to  heaven,  and  given  up  his 
mission,  because  of  the  unbelief  of  men? 
How  often  do  preachers  labor  a  whole  year 
without  any  conversions.  Should  all  minis- 
ters that  see  no  immediate  fruits  of  their  la- 
bors stop  preaching?  It  may  be  you  are  one 
of  those  from  whom  God  sees  it  is  necessary 
to  conceal  the  good  you  do,  to  keep  down 


ASSOCIATED    EFFORT.  53 

spiritual  pride  ;  or  you  may  neglect  to  watch 
for  tlie  fruit  of  your  labors.  Have  you  in- 
quired kindly  what  your  neighbor  thought  of 
the  little  book  or  tract  you  gave  him  ?  Per- 
haps not.  You  may  have  acted  like  a  man 
who  ploughed  and  sowed  his  field,  but  never 
returned  to  see  about  the  crop. 

A  lady  in  the  city  of  A told  me  she 

had  visited  every  family  that  lived  in  three 
squares  of  the  city  once  each  month  for  fifteen 
years.  For  three  or  four  years  she  put  a  tract 
in  most  cases  under  the  door,  and  went  on 
without  knowing  o£  any  good  results ;  but 
gradually  she  became  known,  and  began  to 
talk  to  the  people ;  and  on  inquiry,  to  her  sur- 
prise, quite  a  number  spoke  of  the  tracts  as 
the  means  of  their  awakening,  and  she  found 
manj^  of  these  tracts  had  been  preserved  for 

years.     Another,  in  the  city  of  C ,  told 

mexprecisely  the  same  of  her  labors. 

I  spent  a  night  recently  in  a  thriving  farm- 
er's house.  Although  rehgious  books  were  but 
few,  in  reading  in  the  old  family  Bible  at  wor- 
ship I  found  a  number  of  tracts  in  it,  some  of 
which  looked  very  old.     On  inquiry,  I  found 


54  GOSPEL    WOBKEES. 

they  had  had  some  of  them  a  score  of  years. 
They  told  me  they  read  them  often  in  con- 
nection with  the  Bible. 

A  short  time  ago  a  tract  distributer  gave 
the  tract,  "  What  shall  I  do  for  Jesns  ?"  to  a 
church-member  that  had  never  done  any  thing 
in  the  church.  The  next  day  he  rented  one 
of  the  best  pews  in  the  church,  the  next  Sun- 
day took  a  class  in  the  Sabbath-school,  and 
had  his  pew  filled  with  people — he  sat  in  the 
choir  himself — and  when  congratulated  about 
the  interest  he  took,  said  he,  "It  is  due  to  a 
little  tract."  We  could  fill  many  pages  with 
facts  to  encourage  such  gospel  workers. 

In  the  building  of  the  temple,  it  is  said  there 
was  a  rough  unshapely  stone  that  lay  in  the 
way  most  of  the  time  the  temple  was  building, 
that  seemed  unfit  for  use  ;  but  in  topping  out 
the  building,  there  was  a  place  that  no  stone 
could  be  found  to  fit.  At  last  the  rejected 
stone  was  tried,  and  just  suited  the  place.  So 
there  is  no  stone  in  the  spiritual  temple  but 
can  be  worked  in  somewhere.  I  have  often 
heard  a  pastor  of  my  acquaintance  say,  that 
the  most  useful  man  in  his  church  was  a  half 


ASSOCIATED    EFFORT.  55 

idiot ;  that  notices  of  extra  meetings  of  any 
kind,  funerals,  etc.,  were  by  Billy  Eobert- 
son  attended  to  with  such  earnestness  that 
he  was  sure  to  have  a  good  attendance  ;  that 
of  prayer-meetings  in  the  different  neighbor- 
hoods that  some  would  have  forgotten,  they 
were  always  reminded  a  few  hours  before  by 
him;  while  his  rebukes  of  sin  and  neglect  of 
duty  were  dreaded  by  all  that  knew  him. 
Would  not  many  churches  be  greatly  bene- 
fited by  having  such  a  truth-telling  messen- 
ger to  run  around  and  notify  the  people  of 
every  lecture  and  prayer-meeting  ?  Judging 
from  the  attendance,  we  suppose  many  forget 
such  meetings. 

In  these  and  other  ways  every  one,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  can  be  a  gospel 
worker.  Yes,  afflicted,  suffering,  bed-ridden 
child  of  God,  even  you  can  work.  There  is  a 
home  work  you  can  do.     The  most  heavenly 

preacher  I  ever  heard  was  a  Mrs.  S ,  who 

had  lain  on  her  bed  over  twenty  years.  Her 
tongue  was  always  loosed  to  speak  for  Christ, 
her  heart  overflowing,  and  her  countenance 
radiant  with  spiritual  joy.     A  heavenly  influ- 


56  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

ence  pervaded  her  cliamber  that  all'  felt  who 
entered  it ;  she  had  a  constant  refreshing  of 
soul.  Why  cannot  all  be  so?  Who  is  to 
blame  for  the  want  of  what  she  had  ?  God 
giveth  wilUngiy  and  upbraideth  not.  He  says, 
"  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall 
find."  Thus  the  way  is  open  for  all  to  get  the 
grace  to  do  as  she  did.  It  is  said  the  apostle 
John  lived  till  he  was  so  old  and  feeble  that 
all  he  could  say  was,  "Little  children,  love 
one  another;"  but  he  said  what  he  could. 
You  can  tell  of  the  love  of  Christ  to  you,  of 
the  grace  he  gives  you  to  bear  the  infirmities 
of  life,  of  your  hope  of  heaven  and  the  joys  to 
come.  You  can  tell  your  family  and  neigh- 
bors of  what  Christ  has  done  for  you ;  that 
you  have  found  in  him  something  that  filled 
the  aching  void  that  was  in  your  soul,  that 
there  is  an  ample  supj)ly  for  their  souls  too, 
and  that  they  must  either  seek  it  or  perish. 
This  is  gospel  work  which  you  can  do.  Then 
the  reflex  influence  on  your  own  soul  will  raise 
you  still  higher  and  higher  in  the  divine  life. 


DUTIES    OF    MOTHERS.  5t 

X. 

DUTIES  OF  MOTHERS. 

Theee  is  a  class  of  Christians  that  have  in 
many  cases  a  pretty  good  excuse  for  doing 
little  out-door  work  for  Christ,  but  they  haye 
the  most  important  of  all  work  to  do — I  mean 
mothers.  Their  work  is  to  lay  the  foundation. 
All  know  that  a  safe  structure  can  never  be 
built  on  a  bad  foundation.  Mothers  are 
Christ's  moulders ;  they  give  the  first  shaping 
to  immortal  minds;  and  if  the  shaping  is 
wrong,  it  is  seldom  well  righted.  The  soft 
clay  can  be  put  into  any  shape ;  but  when 
once  hardened  in  the  fire,  it  wiU  break,  but 
not  bend.  Mothers,  you  hold  this  clay  in 
your  hands ;  and  God  has  said,  Mould  it  for 
me.  This  is  your  work,  and  you  cannot  trans- 
fer it  to  another  with  safety.  God  says  em- 
phatically to  every  mother.  Train  up  this  child 
in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old 
he  will  not  depart  from  it.  Train  ;  this  word 
is  very  expressive  in  this  connection.     You 


68  GOSPEL   WORKERS. 

know  the  vine  is  trained  on  the  wall ;  you  lead 
the  tender  growing  branch  in  whatever  direc- 
tion you  wish  it  to  go,  but  you  generally  train 
it  upwards.  So  train  that  tender  branch  that 
God  has  put  into  your  hand  upwards,  heav- 
enward, to  God  and  holiness.  Many  mothers 
mistake  the  time  to  commence  this  training ; 
they  let  the  child  grow  too  long  before  they 
begin.  Some  are  even  afraid  that  religion, 
as  they  call  it,  would  injure  the  health  and 
depress  the  spirits  of  their  child.  This  is  a 
grand  mistake ;  notwithstanding  all  that  sin 
has  done  in  the  world,  still  man  has  conscience 
and  reason,  and  is  susceptible  to  religious 
truth ;  more  so  in  childhood  than  in  manhood. 
Little  children  that  are  carefully  taught  make 
astonishing  advances  in  rehgious  knowledge. 
The  mind  may  be  compared  to  a  great  empty 
reservoir,  that  must  be  filled.  Mothers  have 
the  filling  of  it  at  first ;  and  if  it  is  well  filled 
with  the  knowledge  of  divine  things,  this  will 
keep  out  many  sinful  things ;  or,  as  Luther 
expressed  it,  "  Fill  the  bushel  with  wheat,  and 
the  devil  will  get  but  little  chaff  in  it."  In  all 
you  say  and  do  your  child  imitates  you ;  every 


DUTIES    OF    MOTHERS.  59 

word  and  action  makes  an  impression  lasting 
as  eternity.  They  become  incorporated  into 
its  very  being ;  it  grows  np  your  second  self ; 
your  moral  character  is  impressed  on  it. 

Not  long  since,  a  good  man  engaged  in 
distributing  books  and  tracts  called  at  a  mis- 
erable cabin,  and  found  a  woman  and  seven 
children  in  abject  poverty.  He  did  not  see 
the  husband,  but  was  told  by  the  wife  that  he 
was  a  drunkard,  and  cruel  to  his  famil^^ — even 
sold  their  scanty  earnings  to  buy  whiskey. 
He  gave  his  wife  a  Temperance  Manual  for 
him  to  read.  Some  months  after  he  met  a 
little  girl  on  the  road,  one  of  this  man's  daugh- 
ters. He  spoke  to  the  child,  and  she  recog- 
nized him,  and  said,  "  You  are  the  man  that 
left  the  book  at  our  house,  and  you  must  come 
in  and  see  dad."  He  turned  to  the  cabin,  and 
by  the  time  he  reached  it  the  little  girl  had 
notified  her^  father  that  the  man  who  brought 
the  book  was  there:  When  they  met,  said  he, 
"Are  you  the  man  who  iDrought  the  book 
here  ?"  He  said  he  had  been  there  and  left 
a  Temperance  Manual.  The  book  had  been 
the  means  of  his  conversion,  and  he  was  now 


60  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

a  praying  man.  Hear  liis  story  :  "  I  was  tlie 
son  of  a  poor  mclow,  who  died  wlien  I  was  six 
years  old.  But  morning  and  eyening,  from 
the  time  I  could  speak,  she  made  me  kneel 
by  her  side  and  say  my  prayers,  and  then  she 
prayed  for  me :  and  the  last  thing  I  can  recol- 
lect of  her  was,  her  cold  hand  on  my  head 
when  she  was  dying,  uttering  a  broken  prayer 
for  God  to  send  some  kind  ministering  angel 
to  take  care  of  her  son.  I  fell  into  bad  hands ; 
became  a  bad  boy  and  worse  man ;  but  when 
reading  that  book,  I  thought  I  could  hear  that 
last  prayer,  and  feel  that  cold  hand  on  my 
head,  and  I  got  no  rest  till  I  found  peace  in 
beheving  in  Christ." 

In  1844,  the  writer  became  acquainted  wdth 

Mr.  W ,  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 

piety;  indeed,  I  have  seldom  met  a  man  of 
such  untiring  zeal  in  the  Master's  cause.  My 
business  led  me  to  spend  some  days  in  his 
neighborhood,  and  much  of  the  time  with  him. 
As  most  of  our  conversation  was  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion,  he  gave  me  the  following  his- 
tory of  his  life  and  conversion.  Said  he, 
"  My  father  was  a  very  pious  man,  but  died 


DUTIES    OF    MOTHERS.  61 

when  I  was  fifteen  years  old ;  I  was  the  oldest 
child  of  seven,  with  which  my  mother  was 
left  a  widow.  She  had  a  farm  that  by  care 
and  industry  would  support  us,  and  I  had  to 
become  head  farmer.  My  mother  is  a  devot- 
ed Christian,  and  has  been  from  early  life. 
She  worshipped  God  in  her  house  with  us 
night  and  morning.  For  a  time  I  feared  her 
and  obeyed  her,  and  we  got  along  very  well ; 
but  when  I  got  to  be  eighteen  or  nineteen 
years  old,  I  became  very  intimate  with  some 
wild  young  men,  and  began  to  attend  dancing 
parties  and  neglect  my  work :  my  mother 
remonstrated  with  me  most  earnestly,  but  in 
vain.  By  the  time  I  was  twenty-one  I  was 
somewhat  intemperate,  and  spent  both  time 
and  money  wickedly  and  foohshly ;  indeed,  I 
had  become  the  ringleader  in  every  kind  of 
sin  and  folly.  My  mother  often  pleaded,  with 
tears  in  her  ejes,  for  me  to  stop.  She  prayed 
for  me  whole  nights ;  and  at  last  the  time  came 
for  her  prayers  to  be  answered.  But  I  look 
back  at  that  night  with  horror.  I  had  en- 
gaged to  attend  a  large  dancing  party,  and 
be  the  head  man ;  my  mother  had  determined 


62  GOSPEL   WOKKEES. 

to  do  all  in  her  power  to  prevent  my  going. 
I  saddled  my  liorse,^  and  came  in  to  dress  my- 
self ;  and  when  ready,  I  found  my  mother  at 
the  door  to  prevent  my  going  out.  I  told  her 
I  was  my  own  man,  and  I  cared  not  what  she 
said ;  I  would  go ;  and  with  that  thrust  her 
out  of  my  way.  The  tears  rushed  to  her  eyes, 
and  she  said,  *Well,  James,  I  will  pray  for 
you  all  night.'  I  started,  full  of  anticipated 
pleasure.  I  had  five  miles  to  ride ;  and  by 
the  time  I  got  there  a  strange,  gloomy  feehng 
had  come  over  me.  The  frolic  soon  began, 
and  I  had  to  lead  off ;  but  my  mother's  voice 
and  tears  were  louder  than  the  violin.  All 
the  company  began  to  feel  depression  of  spir- 
its, and  to  complain  that  they  did  not  enjoy 
the  fuQ.  My  distress  increased  until  it  was 
intolerable ;  I  told  them  the  cause  was  my 
mother  praying  at  home,  and  I  must  go  to  her. 
Some  laughed  at  me,  but  all  in  vain ;  I  felt  im- 
pelled to  leave.  I  got  my  horse  and  started, 
with  feelings  I  could  not  describe.  When  I  got 
to  the  house,  I  went  to  the  window  of  my  moth- 
er's room ;  she  was  on  her  knees.  I  listened 
to  her  agonizing  prayer  until  I  felt  as  if  my 


DUTIES   OF   MOTHERS.  63 

heart  would  break.  Her  cry  was,  *0  God, 
have  mercy  on  my  son  James.'  I  opened  the 
door,  and  fell  at  her  side  :  ^  O  mother,  forgive 
me.  God  have  mercy  on  me,  a  miserable  sin- 
ner !'  In  a  few  moments  my  soul  was  filled 
with  joy  and  peace,  and  she  embraced  me  as 
one  come  fi'om  the  dead  to  life  again.  Her 
prayer  was  answered — her  faith  reahzed." 
She  was  still  hving,  thankful  to  God  for  such 
a  son,  and  he  thankful  for  such  a  mother. 

Here  are  striking  cases  of  God's  faithfulness 
to  a  mother's  fidehty.  The  world  is  full  of  such 
cases.  I  beseech  mothers,  as  you  value  the 
well-being  of  your  children  for  time  and  eter- 
nity, impress  on  the  mind  of  your  infant  off- 
spring the  great  things  of  eternity.  How  much 
of  your  comfort  and  happiness  depends  on  it  in 
this  world  no  tongue  can  tell,  and  how  awful 
the  results  of  neglecting  it  in  the  world  to  come 
the  judgment-day  can  alone  reveal.  Do  God's 
work  well  in  the  nursery,  and  God  will  reward 
you  both  in  this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come. 
Neglect  it,  and  you  may  have  to  lay  your 
dying  head  on  a  thorny  pillow,  and  meet  at 
the  judgment  a  child  lost  by  your  neglect. 


64  GOSPEL    WORKERS 


XI 


DUTIES  OF  FATHERS. 

In  our  last  chapter  we  tried  to  enforce  the 
duties  of  mothers  as  aU-important ;  but  it  is 
not  to  be  inferred  from  this  that  fathers  have 
no  responsibility  resting  on  them  to  be  gos- 
pel workers  at  home.  Many  a  father  by  his 
life  and  conduct  undoes  much  that  the  mother 
does.  Every  father  is  the  high-priest  of  his 
household,  according  to  God's  established 
law ;  and  if  he  neglects  the  morning  and  even- 
ing sacrifice,  he  has  no  right  to  expect  God's 
blessing  on  his  household.  God  has  said  that 
he  will  pour  out  his  fury  on  the  famihes  that 
caU  not  on  his  name.  You  may  prosper,  so 
far  as  this  world  is  concerned,  for  a  time,  but 
as  sure,  as  God  is  true,  your  infidehty  to  him 
and  your  family  wiU  meet  its  reward.  The 
example  and  influence  of  that  class  of  fathers 
who  profess  religion  and  neglect  its  duties  in 
their  famihes,  is  hkely  rather  to  retard  God's 


DUTIES    OF    FATHERS.  65 

work  in  the  churcli  and  the  world  than  to 
advance  it.     We  give  the  following  fact  as 
one  of  thousands  that  might  be  given : 
"  Father,  I  am  lost,  and  tou  are  to  blame 

FOR  it."     Tims  spoke  B.  W ,  a  youth  of 

twenty  years,  a  few  hours  before  his  death. 
When  he  was  ten  years  old,  he  was  a  boy  of 
more  than  ordinary  promise.  His  father  was 
then  one  of  the  leading  professors  of  rehgion, 
and  the  best-informed  man  in  the  church  to 
which  he  belonged,  prayed  in  his  family  and 
led  the  social  meeting  in  the  church,  and  was 
looked  upon  as  a  model  Christian  and  his 
family  as  a  model  family.  But  he  loved  a 
dram,  and  soon  became  a  drunkard.  The 
last  time  that  he  partook  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per he  was  intoxicated ;  soon  after  he  was 
expelled  from  the  church,  and  all  his  preten- 
sions to  religion  were  abandoned.  He  started 
a  distillery,  and  encouraged  his  four  sons  to 
drink ;  next  he  became  sceptical,  or  pretended 
to  be  ;  became  an  open  Universalist,  and  per- 
suaded his  sons  to  beUeve  a  lie.  His  wife 
was  a  pious  woman,  and  by  a  blessing  on  her 
influence  saved  her  daughters,  who  all  be- 

HoBP.  Workei-s.  5 


66  GOSPEL   WOEKEES. 

came  members  of  tlie  chnrch.  The  three  liv- 
ing sons  are  now  old  men,  all  drunkards,  in 
poverty  and  wretchedness.  The  father  took 
cold  from  lying  out  drunk  all  night  in  a  storm, 
and  died  from  its  effects  soon  after,  in  utter 
despair. 

They  lived  near  me,  and  I  was  a  daily 

attendant  at  the   dying  bed  of  B.  "W- . 

Although  thii"ty  years  have  passed  away,  the 
scenes  of  the  night  he  died  are  as  fresh  as 
they  were  the  day  after.  I  went  there  to  help 
take  care  of  him  that  night.  It  took  four  men 
to  hold  him ;  for  some  time  his  gi'oans  and 
blasphemies  were  horrible  beyond  descrip- 
tion. He  begged  us  to  drive  away  the  fiends 
that  were  torturing  him.  So  awful  was  the 
sight,  for  the  last  half  hour  of  his  life,  that 
every  soul  fled  from  the  room  except  his 
mother.  He  was  some  time  dead  before  any 
one  would  enter  the  room.  I  trembled  from 
head  to  foot,  and  so  did  all  present.  It  seem- 
ed as  if  hell  was  all  around  us.  On  my  way 
home,  the  moving  of  a  leaf  would  startle  every 
nerve  in  my  body. 

BackshdiDg  parent,  this  is  no  tale  of  fie- 


DUTIES    OF    FATHERS.  61 

tion,  but  it  is  sober  reality.  This  man  was 
once  the  wealthiest  and  most  esteemed  man 
in  the  community  where  he  lived,  and  his 
children  the  most  promising.  Bnt  he  broke 
his  covenant  with  God,  neglected  his  duty  to 
his  family,  set  them  a  godless  example,  and 
taught  them  damnable  heresy.  He  became  a 
drunken  sot,  and  died  without  hope  at  three- 
score and  ten  years  old;  he  had  to  hsten  to 
one  son  who,  in  his  dying  hours,  charged  his 
damnation  on  him;  and  left  three  drunken, 
blaspheming  sons  behind  him.  If  this  meets 
the  eye  of  any  one  who  has  made  the  first  step 
towards  apostasy  or  open  sin,  we  pray  you 
stop.  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall 
he  also  reap.  Young  man,  beware.  At  ten 
years  old,  B.  W was  a  model  boy;  at  fif- 
teen, a  profane  swearer ;  at  eighteen,  a  drunk- 
ard; at  twenty  on  his  d^^ing  bed,  gnashing 
his  teeth  and  cursing  his  Maker,  and  declar- 
ing he  was  in  hell.  Beware  of  following  a 
bcid  example.  Evil  communications  corrupt 
good  manners.     Make  Christ  your  friend. 

Not  long  since,  a  father  took  his  httle  son 
to  church  with  him  on  a  communion  Sabbath. 


68  GOSPEL    WOPiKEES. 

As  soon  as  they  came  out  of  the  church,  the 
little  boy  said,  "Why,  father,  when  did  you 
become  a  Christian  ?"  "  Oh,"  said  the  father, 
"I  have  been  a  member  of  the  church  for 
seven  years."  The  boy  replied,  "  Why,  father, 
I  never  knew  that  before."  It  was  a  barbed 
arrow,  and  the  famity  altar  was  soon  erected. 
How  many  children  might  say  the  same  thing : 
"  Why,  father,  I  never  knew  you  were  a  Chris- 
tian." Do  such  men  work  for  God?  What 
will  their  reward  be  when  they  meet  their 
children  before  the  throne  of  God  on  the  day 
of  judgment  ?  The  ■s\Titer  can  look  back  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  call  up  before  him  the  fa- 
thers that  lived  around  him  in  his  boyhood, 
and  can  trace  their  children  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  and  he  has  no  knowledge  of  one  case 
in  which  children  were  trained  up  in  the  fear 
of  God,  and  in  the  end  did  not  come  out  well. 
The  children  of  pious  parents  are  now  inhab- 
iting the  land ;  while  the  children  of  the  wicked 
are  in  most  cases  in  their  graves,  or  become 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  And 
in  proportion  as  the  parents  were  godless, 
have  thek  children  become  worthless  and  de- 


DUTIES    or    FATHERS.  69 

graded.  Owing  to  outside  influences,  there 
may  be  a  few  exceptions. 

If  you  as  a  father  sincerely  desire  the  well- 
being  of  your  children  for  time  and  eternity, 
I  beseech  you  set  before  them  an  example  of 
holy  living.  The  best  legacy  you  can  give 
your  son  is  that  of  a  Christian  exam;ple.  You 
can  lay  up  for  him  in  this  way  a  fund  that 
will  outlive  and  outride  all  the  financial  storms 
of  earth ;  you  may  lead  him  to  the  Life-boat 
that  will  land  him  safe  on  the  shores  of  im- 
mortahty.  Example  lives  in  memory,  and 
warns  the  soul  when  those  who  gave  it  are 
dead  and  gone.  And  then  your  own  happi- 
ness depends  on  your  fidelity  to  duty.  I  do  n't 
believe  it  possible  for  any  man  who  has  taken 
the  vows  of  God  upon  him,  to  live  in  the  neg- 
lect of  duty  and  be  happy.  I  heard  the  cel- 
ebrated Judge  B once  say,  in  the  time  of 

a  great  revival  of  rehgion,  "  This  is  the  first 
time  I  ever  had  religion  to  make  me  happy. 
I  have  been  a  church-member  twenty  years, 
and  have  only  had  religion  enough  to  make 
me  miserable,  because  I  did  not  know  whether 
I  was  dead  or  alive."     Oh  how  many  might 


70  GOSPEL   WORKERS. 

say  the  same  thing.  How  can  any  man  be 
happy  while  a  daily  covenanfc-breaker  with 
God,  on  whose  soul  rests  the  solemn  obliga- 
tion to  set  a  godly  example  before  his  family? 
Do  n't  charge  the  irrehgion  of  your  children 
on  your  pastor,  if  you  neglect  your  duty ;  his 
work  will  be  prosperous  in  proportion  to  the 
manner  in  which  you  do  your  part.  Why  is 
it  that  a  large  portion  of  those  that  embrace 
religion  in  early  life  are  the  children  of  emi- 
nently pious  parents  ?  Because  God  is  hon- 
ored in  the  family  with  daily  adoration.  They 
eat  and  sleep  in  a  rehgious  atmosphere.  The 
pow^'  of  habit  and  all  their  surroundings  lead 
them  heavenward ;  while  all  the  surroundings 
of  children  raised  where  God  is  not  wor- 
shipped, lead  them  hellward.  If  this  little 
book  falls  into  the  hands  of  any  prayerless 
father,  I  pray  you,  as  you  value  your  own 
happiness  in  time  and  eternity,  and  the  eter- 
nal well-being  of  your  children,  erect  the  fam- 
ily altar  without  another  day's  delay. 


SPECIAL   EFFORT   REQUIRED.  tl 


XII. 

THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  CHURCH 
CALLS  FOR  SPECIAL  EFFORT. 

There  are  times  in  the  history  of  God's 
church  and  people  that  devolve  on  them  es- 
pecial responsibihties.  When  an  army  is  en- 
gaged in  deadly  conflict  with  a  powerful  foe, 
and  a  bayonet  charge  is  made,  every  nerve  and 
muscle  must  be  strung  to  the  highest  pitch.  In 
time  of  war,  the  agitation  of  the  public  mind 
is  so  great  and  the  excitement  so  intense  that 
those  who  have  but  Kttle  rehgious  experience 
are  led  away.  The  human  mind  will  not  bear 
to.be  intensely  excited  on  two  difterent  sub- 
jects at  the  same  time ;  the  one  or  the  other 
will  predominate.  The  spirit  of  war  is  not 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  but  the  very  reverse ;  the 
experience  of  all  ages  and  countries  proves 
this.  We  speak  what  we  know  when  we  say 
that  many  in  our  country  who  were  consid- 
ered as  Christians  on  entering  the  army,  be- 
came intemperate  and  profane ;  and  our  half- 


12  GOSPEL   WOEKEES. 

deserted  churches  and  thinly  attended  prayer- 
meetings  give  sad  testimony,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  lack  of  conversions.  These  sad  tokens 
should  arouse  every  true  child  of  God  to  the 
most  earnest  effort  to  save  the  church.  I  do 
not  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that  there  is  any 
danger  of  the  church  being  destroyed,  as  no 
one  believes  more  firmly  than  I  do  that  the 
gates  of  hell  can  never  overcome  it.  And 
I  am  far  from  believing  what  I  have  heard 
some  men  say,  that  God  cannot  do  without 
the  church  in  this  country.  I  suppose  the 
Jews  once  thought  so,  but  he  scattered  them 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  his  church  still 
lives.  Perhaps  the  seven  churches  of  Asia 
thought  the  same  thing,  but  they  are  gone, 
and  the  church  still  lives.  I  hope  the  church 
is  still  to  live  in  this  land,  and  that  our  afflic- 
tions, will  work  out  for  us  as  a  nation  a  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory; 
but  that  has  to  be  done  through  the  exertions 
of  God's  peox)le.  Certain  I  am  that  if  we 
sit  still  and  do  nothing,  God  will  show  to  all 
his  intelligent  universe  that  he  can  do  with- 
out us.     God's  sovereignty  is  manifested  in 


SPECIAL   EFFORT   REQUIRED.  73 

his  church  through  human  instrumentahty, 
without  doing  violence  to  the  human  will  or 
understanding. 

We  are  not  to  conclude  that  because  God 
has  promised  security  to  his  church,  the 
church  may  neglect  her  duty.  No  national 
emergency,  however  momentous  it  may  be, 
can  justify  neglect  of  duty  to  God.  We  read 
of  a  man  whom  Christ  commanded  to  follow 
him,  whose  father  was  lying  dead  and  must 
be  buried ;  but  he  said  to  him,  "  Let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead ;  but  go  thou  and  preach  the 
gospel."  So  the  Christian  must  let  nothing 
come  in  the  way  of  his  duty  to  God.  I  have 
no  doubt  but  the  best  way  to  get  out  of  our 
troubles  is  to  turn  to  God  ^^n.th.  our  whole 
hearts ;  and  until  this  is  done  what  hope  have 
we  of  seeing  their  end  ? 

There  is  another  class,  and  at  this  day  a 
very  important  one,  to  whom  we  must  address 
a  few  words.  They  are  soldiers,  who  have 
left  their  homes  and  all  the  hallowed  influ- 
ences which  were  thrown  around  them  by  do- 
mestic ties  and  the  house  of  God.  Many 
who  while  at  home  were  constant  in  their 


H  GOSPEL   WOBKEBS. 

attendance  at  the  place  of  prayer,  and  gave 
some  evidence  of  piety,  have  made  shipwreck 
of  their  rehgious  character  as  soon  as  they 
were  exposed  to  temptation  and  ridicule  by 
wicked  companions.  This  is  the  place,  above 
aU  others,  where  stern,  unyielding  integrity  to 
Christ  is  required.  The  moment  you  begin 
to  yield  to  your  godless  associates,  you  drive 
the  Spirit  of  God  from  your  heart,  and  be- 
come an  easy  prey  to  your  adversary.  While 
those  who  rule  over  you  as  officers  have  a 
right  to  implicit  obedience  from  you,  remem- 
ber Christ  has  higher  claims  on  your  fidelity. 
Guard  against  the  first  disloyal  word  or  act 
to  Him  who  has  bought  you  with  his  blood. 
As  the  power  of  a  consistent  Christian  life  is 
of  greater  importance  in  the  army  than  in 
almost  any  other  place  on  earth,  so  is  the  dan- 
ger of  backsHding  greater.  The  only  hope 
for  the  soldier  is  a  stern,  steadfast  adherence 
to  Christian  principle  and  duty.  As  a  field 
of  labor  for  Christ  and  souls,  none  is  more 
needy.  Dying  souls  are  with  you  in  the  tent 
and  barracks,  as  you  walk  or  loiter  by  the 
way.   You  are  really  like  the  prisoner  inclosed 


SPECIAL   EFFORT    REQUIRED.  T5 

in  tlie  water-cask  as  a  punisliment  for  crime ; 
he  must  pump  or  drown.  So  you  must  work, 
or  your  piety  will  die.  In  self-defence,  I  pray 
you,  be  earnest  in  gospel  work.  Eemember 
Hedley  Vicars. 

If  I  could  see  aU  God's  professed  people 
earnestly  at  work  in  the  gospel  vineyard,  I 
should  feel  confident  that  all  our  national 
troubles  were  near  their  end. 

How  shaU  this  be  accomplished?  Who 
will  begin?  Why,  my  friend,  do  you  begin 
now.  Go  to  that  Christian  brother  or  sister 
just  now,  and  teU  them  you  have  resolved, 
with  God's  help,  to  live  no  longer  at  this  poor 
dying  rate.     Ask  them  to  go  with  you  to  Mr. 

A 's,  and  tell  him  the  same;  and  by  this 

time  your  soul  will  be  on  fire,  like  the  disci 
pies'  on  the  way  to  Emmaus ;  each  visit  wiL 
increase  the  fire  in  your  own  soul,  and  all  you 
enhst  with  you  will  be  aroused.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  if  we  could  arouse  but  two  in  each 
church  to  go  fi-om  house  to  house  in  this  spirit, 
a  few  days  would  produce  results  that  would 
fill  heaven  with  joy.  This  is  no  new  experi- 
ment; it  has  been  done  again  and  again;  and 


76  GOSPEL    WORKERS. 

I  never  knew  it  to  fail.  Oil,  Christian  brother 
and  sister,  is  it  not  worth  a  trial  at  such  a 
time  as  the  present,  when  the  ark  of  God  is 
standing  still  ?  No  doubt  it  would  be  well  if 
many  now  in  the  church  were  out  of  it ;  like 
Gideon's  army,  it  is  too  large  ;  but  many  fee- 
ble ones  can  be  saved,  and  there  are  many 
out  who  are  to  be  brought  into  the  fold  of 
Christ.  Arise  then,  gird  on  the  armor,  and 
go  forth  to  conquest  and  to  victory ;  be  faith- 
ful unto  death,  and  you  will  obtain  a  crown 
of  life.  None  but  victors  are  crowned,  and 
none  but  faithful  soldiers  are  victors.  God 
grant  to  all  my  readers  the  rewards  of  gospel 
workers. 


CLOSING   APPEAL.  tt 

XIII. 

CLOSING  APPEAL. 

The  writer  is  about  to  close  tliis  series,  in 
which  he  has  tried  briefly  to  point  a  way  for 
every  one  to  work  for  Christ ;  and  if  he  knows 
his  own  heart,  it  is  with  the  desire  to  add  his 
earnest  testimony,  with  that  of  many  others, 
to  the  importance  of  all  God's  professed  peo- 
ple being  gospel  workers. 

After  nearly  forty  years'  experience  in  the 
church,  he  is  confident  that  nothing  else  so 
much  retards  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  the 
world  as  the  indifference  of  those  who  are 
God's  professed  people.  Is  it  not  emphat- 
ically true,  that  "  the  children  of  this  world 
are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  chil- 
dren of  Hght  ?"  How  can  the  apathy  on  this 
subject  be  reconciled  with  Bible  Christianity  ? 
The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit,  not  by  either 
the  leaves  or  the  flowers.  The  characteristics 
of  a  Christi5-n  as  laid  down  by  Christ  are  now 
but  too  dimly  shadowed  forth  by  his  professed 


18  GOSPEL   WORKEIiS. 

people.  Is  not  the  light  of  many  hid  under 
a  bushel  ?  What  proportion  of  them  are  now 
living  epistles,  read  and  known  of  all  men  ? 
When  and  where  do  you  hear  the  men  and 
women  o:^  the  world  say,  See  how  these  Chris- 
tians love  one  another?  Where  is  the  con- 
gregation in  which  it  might  not  be  said  of 
some.  See  how  they  hate  each  other?  Do 
not  the  rich  shght  the  poor,  and  pass  them 
by  without  notice  ?  Do  not  the  poor  envy  and 
despise  the  rich  ?  Some  sit  in  adjoining  pews 
in  church  for  years  that  scarcely  know  each 
other;  and  a  stranger  may  attend  worship 
with  them  for  months  or  years  without  notice, 
unless  he  have  large  wealth  or  high-sounding 
titles. 

Is  it  possible  for  any  church  to  be  gospel 
workers  where  such  a  state  of  things  exists  ? 
Christian  influence,  when  concentrated  and 
united,  is  an  irresistible  power  of  itself ;  but 
when  that  united  influence  is  accompanied 
with  united  effort,  the  powers  of  darkness  must 
flee  before  it.  It  is  then  that  one  will  chase  a 
thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight. 
It  is  then,  and  not  until  then,  that  God's 


CLOSING   APPEAL.  79 

people  become  terrible  as  an  army  with  ban- 
ners. 

Whoever  you  are,  I  ask  you  to  ponder  the 
question,  What  have  I  done  for  Jesus  ?  Min- 
isterial brother,  whatever  position  you  occupy 
in  the  church,  have  you  done  all'  you  can?  If 
called  to  your  account  to-day,  could  jou  say, 
"  Lord,  I  have  done  as  thou  hast  commanded?" 
Have  you  made  such  an  advance  in  Iroliness 
of  life  and  purity  of  soul  that  it  gives  power 
to  your  work,  and  inspires  others  to  seek  after 
higher  attainments  in  the  divine  Hfe?  Is 
there  not  something  more  still  that  you  can 
do  for  Christ?  Cast  around  you  and  see  if 
you  cannot  start  another  httle  wheel  in  the 
machinery  that  w^ill  do  gospel  work. 

Officers  of  the  church  of  Christ,  have  you 
done  all  you  can?  Is  there  not  some  place 
in  which  you  can  do  more  yet  ?  Are  you  an 
Aaron  or  a  Hur  ?  Are  you  standing  shoulder 
to  shoulder  with  the  pastor  in  doing  God's 
work?  or  is  your  office  merely  an  honorary 
title  ?  I  see  no  promise  of  pay  to  such  delin- 
quents. 

Professional  men  and  men  of  business,  I 


80  GOSPEL    WOKKERS. 

appeal  to  you.  What  are  you  doing  for 
Christ?  Are  you  doing  nothing  more  than 
to  give  the  least  pittance  that  shame  and  con- 
science will  admit  for  Christ's  work?  Your 
gTudging  /nites  and  frowning  gifts  will  soon 
meet  you  before  a  frowning  Judge,  and  the 
hidden  talent  receive  a  just  reward.  I  en- 
treat you  to  begin  to-day  to  work  for  Christ ; 
both  do  and  give,  plough  and  sow,  as  you 
have  God  for  paymaster.  Speak  a  word  for 
Christ.  Give  a  little  tract  or  book,  and  have 
something  each  evening  to  ask  God's  bless- 
ing upon.     That  is  gospel  work. 

We  appeal  again  to  the  Marthas  and  the 
Marys:  attend  well  to  that  little  "church  in 
the  house;"  preach  Christ  in  all  you  do ;  draw 
lessons  of  instruction  for  your  little  ones  from 
all  your  domestic  employments ;  show  them 
God  in  every  thing.  Do  good  to  others  also ; 
lay  your  plans  without  delay ;  bring  all  around 
you,  if  possible,  to  join  you,  and  begin  the 
work  forthwith.  And  may  the  God  of  all 
grace  inspire  all  to  become  gospel  workees. 


